National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has stated that Vietnam always attaches importance to its comprehensive cooperation and partnership with New Zealand.

During his reception for New Zealand’s visiting Foreign Minister Murray McCully in Hanoi on March 26, Chairman Hung suggested that both sides should foster relations in strong fields, such as economics, trade, science and technology and agriculture

The top legislator expressed his hope that New Zealand will back Vietnam’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement and other international forums, especially the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the United Nations (UN).

For his part, McCully stated his country will continue maintaining its official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam to help the country promote socio-economic development, poverty reduction and human resources training.

The guest also suggested the two sides’ legislative bodies to push their ties in the coming time.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with McCully.

They praised the strong development of relations between the two countries and ministries, highlighting the growth in the two-way trade in recent years. The two revealed that a target has been set of lifting bilateral turnover to 1 billion USD in 2015, and pledged to intensively promote their comprehensive partnership in all fields.

With regards to regional and international issues of common concern, the two sides pledged to work closely and mutually support at regional and international forums, such as the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other cooperation in the framework of the UN.

Minh and McCully also underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea, and ensuring maritime safety, security and freedom in the area.

They also reiterated their commitment to mutually support each other in the future when running for seats at the UN Security Council.-VNA